AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; Inflation to Stay "Sticky"

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Apr 27, 2023 08:34

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• Upbeat tech earnings fail to lift the S&P 500, Meta posts a solid Q1
• ASX falls, lead by healthcare
• Stocks to watch: Blackmores, Woodside Energy, CSL
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; Inflation to Stay "Sticky"

Wall Street Summary

Tech companies including Microsoft Corp. were among the stock market's few bright spots Wednesday, as investors digested corporate earnings that offered mixed messages about the state of the U.S. economy.

Major indexes on Wednesday morning clawed back some of the previous day's losses before edging lower leading to the closing bell. The technology-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ rose 0.5% while the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ dipped 0.4% and the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ ticked 0.7%, or 229 points, lower.

First Eagle Investments global value team co-head Matthew McLennan has warned that the root causes of inflation remain. He said fiscal breakdown and discipline still remained, pointing to these factors causing continual losses in sovereign securities and mortgage backed securities.

While the markets have been recently bullish and hoping this crisis is over, and equity markets are rallying on the back of what is perceived to be a cyclical improvement in core inflation, we haven’t solved the root causes," he told the Summit.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ fell 0.11 per cent, led by losses in several sectors at market open.

The healthcare sector was the worst performing sector, it comes as shares in biotechnology company $CSL Ltd (CSL.AU)$ fell 1.4 per cent.

Blackmores shares surged 21.5 per cent amid news that Japanese giant Kirin has lobbed a bid to acquire the company.

The energy sector was in the red as $Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS.AU)$ shares dropped 1.3 per cent. $Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$ fell 0.8 per cent.

The consumer discretionary sector also suffered sharp losses. $Wesfarmers Ltd (WES.AU)$ shares were down 0.9 per cent. $Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ALL.AU)$ shares dropped 1.1 per cent.

Stocks to Watch

$United Malt Group Ltd (UMG.AU)$: United Malt Group has downgraded its underlying EBITDA guidance for the first half after reporting lower sales volumes and the delayed start of its Inverness facility.

The company now expects underlying EBITDA (before SaaS costs and one-off items) for the first half to be approximately $51 million.

This expected result is lower than previous guidance of $58-66 million (before SaaS costs).

$Sandfire Resources Ltd (SFR.AU)$: Sandfire Resources reported group production of 18,509 tonnes of copper and 21,294 tonnes of zinc in the March quarter, at a C1 unit cost of $US2 a pound.

Group copper equivalent production of 30,000 tonnes was 2 per cent lower than the December quarter as the company's DeGrussa operation transitioned from mining operations to the processing of stockpiles.

Sandfire refined its FY23 copper production guidance to 87,000 tonnes, zinc to 86,000 tonnes, lead to 9000 tonnes, gold to 20,000 ounces and silver to 2.8 million ounces.

$Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (TLX.AU)$: Telix Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement to acquire Vienna-based Dedicaid GmbH, a spin-off of the Medical University Vienna, in a deal designed to expand the company's artificial intelligence (AI) capability.

The purchase price is comprised of €1.1 million upfront, paid in equity, and a further €1.1 million earn-out subject to the achievement of regulatory approval in the US, and which is payable in cash or equity, at Telix's election.

$Blackmores Ltd (BKL.AU)$: Japanese beverages giant Kirin Corporation has made a $1.9 billion takeover bid for Australia's largest vitamins group Blackmores, which has been endorsed by the board and its major shareholder Marcus Blackmore.

The Kirin bid is at $95 per share and is at a 23.7 per cent premium to the last closing price of $76.79. The bid is being made via a scheme of arrangement.

Trading Ex-div: $Gryphon Capital Income Trust (GCI.AU)$, $360 Capital Mortgage REIT (TCF.AU)$, $Acrow Ltd (ACF.AU)$, $Steamships Trading Co Ltd (SST.AU)$

Dividends Paid: $Turners Automotive Group Ltd (TRA.AU)$, $Clover Corp Ltd (CLV.AU)$, $Ridley Corp Ltd (RIC.AU)$, $360 Capital REIT (TOT.AU)$

Listing: $Ashby Mining Ltd (AMG.AU)$

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR

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